The German government is reportedly set to impose prison sentences on citizens for posting what it deems “misinformation” on the social media platform X, raising fresh concerns over free speech restrictions.
Reports indicate that government spending on monitoring social media for such “infractions” has surged more than fivefold since 2020, reaching approximately €105.6 million by 2025.
Unherd.com reports: In “The Censorship Network: Regulation and Repression in Germany Today” report produced by Liber-net, a digital liberties non-profit, researchers found that funding had tripled in 2020-21 and then doubled again in 2023.
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The report claims that Germany spent €105.6 million on speech regulation between 2016 and 2025, including grants to non-profit media monitors and legal groups targeting specific political parties.
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In June 2025, German police carried out a large-scale operation targeting “digital arsonists” or those who were suspected of hate speech, with reports suggesting 170 raids were executed. It followed a CBS report in February, which uncovered raids conducted by German police on those whom they suspected of committing online hate crimes.
One high-profile case involved David Bendels, editor-in-chief of the AfD-affiliated Deutschland Kurier publication, who received a seven-month suspended prison sentence for sharing a meme featuring German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on X. The photo showed Faeser holding a sign reading “I hate freedom of speech” when the original image was of her holding a sign reading “We remember” in memory of the victims of Nazi Germany.
The report also revealed that the EU has partially funded the campaign, contributing €30 million since 2018. This includes €4 million to Germany’s public broadcaster Deutsche Welle for its Media Fit programme, which counters disinformation about the Russia-Ukraine war. The US government also pitched in, though on a smaller scale, providing $400,000 to 14 different organisations since 2018.
Liber-net’s report examined the scale of online speech regulation in Germany, highlighting the country’s “outsized role” in EU censorship efforts. The Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) emerged as the largest ministerial funder, contributing €56 million since 2017. Major recipients include the RUBIN research consortium, which develops AI tools to verify digital media content amid growing concerns over disinformation and deepfakes.
The Network Enforcement Act is the legislation used by the government to combat online hate speech and requires companies to remove illegal content including hate speech. However, the law has faced backlash as many across the political spectrum, including the Left, Free Democrats, Green Party and the AfD, have argued it infringes on free speech.
Liber-net’s report also highlighted raids conducted by German authorities, noting that prosecutors had defended their actions by claiming that digital “hate” causes enduring harm because online activity “sticks around forever”.
Andrew Lowenthal, the founder and CEO of Liber-net, told UnHerd that “European elites see heavy-handed content regulation as a winning political strategy despite the significant backlash it has produced, not just in Europe but also in the UK and most markedly in the US. I would argue that censorship actually exacerbates polarisation rather than mitigating it.”
He added: “In Germany large swathes of civil society have abandoned their traditional role as watch-dogs of power.” Instead, they have “joined forces with the State to suppress popular discontent”.
